Monitoring and overriding features for telephone service system

ABSTRACT

A system and method are disclosed for a user to monitor and/or override a forwarded call. Typically, the forwarded call was initially an incoming call from a caller to the user and thereafter forwarded to a remote service system, such as a remote messaging system. The system and method determine a redirecting number from which the incoming call was forwarded. The system and method then initiates a second call to the user and a voice path is established connecting the forwarded call to the second call. Thereafter, the user is notified, for example, with a distinct ring at the user&#39;s telephone, of the option that the user may monitor and override the forwarded call. The system and method can also execute procedures to actuate the options elected by the user.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/087,905, filed Mar. 23, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,433,456which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/873,943,filed Jun. 4, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,914,970 the entirety of whichare incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a system and method for a user to monitor andoverride a backup call receiving system or service to which an incomingtelephone call intended for the user has been forwarded.

BACKGROUND

A call to a telephone user is sometimes forwarded to a service such asmessaging service or assisting agent service. Such services aretypically provided by a telephony service system external to the switchthat serves the user's telephone line. Compared to a home answeringmachine, these service systems may be advantageous since they canprovide more storage capacity and enable record tracking and post-callprocessing such as information redistribution.

Unlike the home answering machine, however, these service systemstypically do not provide a way for the user to listen to the forwardedcall while the interaction between the caller and the service system isin progress, e.g., while the caller is leaving a message with amessaging service system. Thus, the user cannot monitor and/or overridethe handling of the call like they would be able to do on a homeanswering machine. Yet, the user of the messaging service or assistingagent service often desires such monitoring and/or overriding of theservice.

Some switch vendors provide a screening function from a serving switchwhich alerts the user about a call intercepted by a messaging orattendant system, and allows the user to screen the call. The cost ofthis switch function, however, is typically prohibitive. Anotherdifficulty of the switch approach is that a switch operator cannotdetermine whether a call has been forwarded to a backup service systemfor which screening options are desired, or to another destination wheresuch options are not desired. Moreover, most switches today do notinclude a call screening function and the call screening function is notavailable to users and/or call backup service providers served by suchswitches.

Thus, there is a need for an improved call monitoring and overridingsystem and method to handle the calls forwarded to a service system.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A system and method are disclosed for a user to monitor on acall-by-call basis a call forwarded to a system or service, such as aremote messaging system. In addition, the user may elect to override theservice to which the call has been forwarded, i.e., to connect to thecaller and disconnect the system service. Typically, the forwarded callwas initially an incoming call from a calling party to the user andthereafter forwarded to a remote service system. Since the servicesystem is remotely located, the user cannot otherwise screen theforwarded call as he or she could with a home answering machine. Amonitoring and service system overriding function can be added as acomponent of the service system or it can be an independent subsystemused in conjunction with the service system.

Thus, after an incoming call is forwarded, the monitoring and servicesystem overriding function determines a redirecting number of the userfrom which the incoming call was forwarded. The monitoring and servicesystem overriding function then initiates a second call to the user andestablishes a one-way voice path connecting the forwarded call to thesecond call. Thereafter, the user is notified, for example, with adistinct ring at the user's telephone, that the user may monitor theforwarded call via the established one-way voice path. The user may pickup the phone to do so, and may then choose to connect directly to thecaller via a two-way voice path, and disconnect the forwarded call fromthe remote service.

Further aspects and advantages of the invention are discussed below inconjunction with the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for providing amonitoring and service system overriding feature according to thepreferred embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an alternate system for providing themonitoring and service system overriding feature according to thepreferred embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a state diagram illustrating the functionality of anapplication that provides the monitoring and service system overridingfeature according to the preferred embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A call monitoring and service system overriding system is provided in acommunication environment that allows a system user (“user”) to monitorand, at the user's option, connect to a call that has been forwarded toa remote service system. The remote service system may be, for example,a backup system such as a messaging system, an answering service, athird party's phone and a unified messaging system. For simplicity ofdescription, the term telephone system is used herein where the termcommunication environment could also be used. Also, the term telephoneline is used herein, where the term communication line could beotherwise used. The telephone line can be a line shared by telephone anddata network access services, or can be another telephone line, or otherlines, physically or logically separate.

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication environment, such as telephone system100. The telephone system 100 connects via telephone lines a callingparty (“caller”) 110 to a called party, i.e., a user 120 of monitoringand overriding service. A serving switch 130 connects a calling partytelephone line 125 to the called party's telephone line 123 to direct anincoming call from the caller 110 to the user 120.

When the user's telephone is busy, the user does not otherwise answerthe incoming call, or as set up by the user, the incoming call isforwarded to a remote service system 140. Telephony trunks capable ofconveying caller and redirecting numbers, such as Integrated ServicesDigital Network (ISDN) trunks, connect the serving switch 130 to theremote service system 140. The remote service system 140 includes amessage system, for example, voice-mail, and an answering serviceautomatic call distribution system, such as when a call center agentanswers the forwarded call and takes a message. Other types of remoteservice systems 140 could also be used, such as, automatically sendingthe call to a third party's phone, e.g., a colleague's phone, or sendingthe call to a unified messaging service. The unified messaging serviceis a service that allows for the storage and retrieval of message invarious media formats and that, for example, converts an e-mail textmessage to a voice message or vice versa.

To provide for the monitoring and service system overriding servicewithout a screening function included in the serving switch, a bridgeand control component 150 is added to the remote service system 140. Thebridge and control component 150 determines if the called party of agiven forwarded call has the monitoring and/or overriding serviceregistered and activated. The bridge and control component 150 alsoalerts the user about the monitoring opportunity. The bridge and controlcomponent 150 bridges the user 120 into the monitoring session and candetect the user's intention to override the service system. If the user120 indicates a desire to override the service system, the bridge andcontrol component 150 sets up two-way voice path between the caller andthe user and requests the serving switch 130 to directly connect thecaller 110 and user 120. The user 120 can signal his or her election tooverride the forwarded call by, for example, pressing a telephone key orspeaking into the telephone handset.

FIG. 2 shows an alternate communication environment, such as telephonesystem 200, that also uses the call monitoring and overriding service ofthe preferred embodiments. The caller 110 connects to the user 120 viathe telephone system 200. Telephone line 125 connects the caller 110 tothe serving switch 130 and the serving switch 130 connects the caller110 to the user 120 via the telephone line 123. Unlike the configurationshown in FIG. 1, the serving switch 130 is not directly connected to theremote service system 140, but connects through a bridge and controlsubsystem 210. The bridge and control subsystem 210 contains hardware,software, and data necessary to accomplish the monitoring and servicesystem overriding functions of the forwarded call without modifying theoriginal remote service system 140. The bridge and control subsystem 210functions similarly to the bridge and control component 150 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a state diagram illustrating an application 300 thatenables call monitoring and service system overriding functionsaccording to the preferred embodiments. It should be noted that thisdiagram depicts a state machine for a single user handled by themonitoring and service overriding function, but the function cansimultaneously handle multiple independent users. The application 300includes a program or process that resides on software, firmware orhardware, or combinations thereof. The application preferably resideswith the bridging and control function as a subsystem 210 or as acomponent 150 in the remote service system 140.

To utilize the monitoring and overriding service, the user 120preferably registers via a registration procedure. The registrationprocedure records that the user desires the ability to monitor andoverride calls forwarded from their telephone line 123. The user 120preferably can also deregister from the monitoring and overridingservice, and can activate or deactivate the service when registered.Various mechanisms can be used to register with or deregister (oractivate or deactivate) from the monitoring and overriding service,including the user manually registering or deregistering with theservice using a telephone. Other methods for registering andderegistering the user 120 could also be used, such as the user 120using a world-wide web session to register with or deregister from theservice.

Returning to FIG. 3, at state 310, the application 300 resides in anidle state before a call is forwarded to the remote service system 140.At block 320, the call arrives at the bridging and control subsystem 210or component 150 with the condition that the called party is notregistered as a monitoring service user 120 or the user has deactivatedthe monitoring service. In this case the service system interacts withthe caller 110 normally, and the monitoring and overriding service isnot invoked. The application 300 remains at the idle state (state 310).

In a preferred embodiment, to determine whether the called party isregistered with the service and the service is activated,call-processing logic located at the bridging and control subsystem 210or component 150 determines the called party's telephone number. Forexample, the call-processing logic can recognize a redirecting number ina call-setup-signaling message, which is the called party's telephonenumber. Thereafter, the called party's telephone number is compared withactive registered users' telephone numbers to determine whether thecalled party is registered for the monitoring and overriding service.

At block 330, a call arrives at the bridging and control subsystem 210or the remote service system 140 and the called party is a registeredand active user 120. The application 300 initiates a second call to theuser's telephone line 123 and connects the second call with the caller110 via a one-way voice path. The one-way voice path allows the voice ofthe caller 110 to be audible to the user 120 without making the user'svoice audible to the caller 110. The user 120 can be notified of thesecond call with a distinct ring as directed by the application 300 andprovided by the serving switch 130. If the telephone line of user 120 isequipped with a caller identification (ID) device, the calling party'stelephone information may appear as provided by the bridging and controlsubsystem 210 or component 150.

At state 335, the application 300 waits for a user interaction or for atimeout to occur while the caller 110 leaves a message with the remoteservice system 140 and the second call is being sent to the user 120. Atblock 340, when the user 120 fails to answer the second call before adetermined time out period elapses or the caller 110 disconnects fromthe call, the application terminates the one-way voice path connectionwith the caller 110 and returns to the idle state (state 310).

At block 350, the user 120 answers the second call upon receipt of thesecond call. Thereafter, the user 120 can listen to the forwarded call,e.g., the interaction between the caller 110 and the remote servicesystem 140 via the one-way voice path. The voice path can be implementedby the bridge and control subsystem 210 or the bridge and controlcomponent 150. Those skilled in the art with appreciate that that voicepath can be implemented in other ways, such as with digital signalingprocessing and packet voice transmission and processing. At state 355,the application 300 waits while the user 120 monitors the caller's callto the remote answering service 140.

Upon listening to the caller 110, the user 120 can elect to override theforwarded call or disconnect from the call. At block 360, if the user120 disconnects from the forwarded call or the caller interaction withthe remote service system 140 ends, the application 300 terminates theone-way voice path and enters the idle state (state 310).

At block 370, the user 120 elects to override the forwarded call. Theuser 120 can signal his or her election to override the forwarded callby, for example, pressing a telephone key or speaking into the telephonehandset. The user may speak a command into the telephone handset ormerely say anything, depending on how the application 300 is set up. Theapplication 300, upon detecting the pressed key or the user's voice,provides a two-way voice path between the user 120 and the caller 110.The application 300 also preferably detaches the caller 110 from theremote service system 140, for example, the recording or attendant legof the forwarded call.

The bridge and control subsystem 210 or component 150 can request theserving switch 130 to bridge out the forwarded call and connect thecaller 110 directly with the user 120. At block 375, the application 300waits for the serving switch 130 to bridge out. At block 380, when theserving switch 130 bridges out the forwarded call and connects thecaller 110 directly with the user 120, the application 300 can return tothe idle state (state 310). The application 300 also returns to the idlestate (state 310) if the caller 110 or the user 120 disconnects from thecall before the bridging out occurs.

While the invention has been described above by reference to variousembodiments, it will be understood that many changes and modificationscan be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It istherefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be understoodas an illustration of the presently preferred embodiments of theinvention, and not as a definition of the invention. It is only thefollowing claims, including all equivalents, which are intended todefine the scope of this invention.

1. A computer implemented method for handling an incoming call from acalling party to a user, comprising: receiving the incoming call;forwarding the incoming call to a remote service system; determiningwith a bridge and control component a redirecting number to which theincoming call was forwarded, where the bridge and control component islocated between the remote service system to which the incoming call wasforwarded and a serving switch; establishing a one-way voice pathconnecting the forwarded call to the user; and notifying the user thatthe user may monitor the forwarded call.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein notifying the user comprising sending a distinct ring from theserving switch to the user.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one-wayvoice path is established using digital signaling processing.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the one-way voice path is established usingpacket voice transmission and processing.
 5. The method of claim 1further comprising: providing a two-way voice path between the user andthe caller; and detaching the remote service from the forwarded call. 6.The method of claim 5 wherein the two-way voice path is provided afterthe user elects to override the forwarded call.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein the user elects to override the forwarded call by pressing atelephone key.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the user elects tooverride the forwarded call by speaking.
 9. The method of claim 1wherein the bridge and control component is incorporated with the remoteservice system.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the bridge and controlcomponent is established independent of the remote service system. 11.The method of claim 1 wherein the determination of a redirecting numberis accomplished independent of the serving switch.
 12. A system thathandles an incoming call from a calling party to a user, comprising: atleast one of a bridge and control component to determine a redirectingnumber to which the incoming call was forwarded, where the bridge andcontrol component is located between the remote service system to whichthe incoming call was forwarded and a serving switch, and the bridge andcontrol component establishes a one-way voice path connecting theforwarded call to the user.
 13. The system of claim 12 wherein thebridge and control component directs the serving switch to send adistinct ring to the user to notify the user that the user may monitorthe forwarded call.
 14. The system of claim 12 wherein the voice path isestablished using digital signaling processing.
 15. The system of claim12 wherein the voice path is established using packet voice transmissionand processing.
 16. The system of claim 12 wherein the bridge andcontrol component directs the serving switch to provide a two-way voicepath between the user and the caller and to detach the remote servicefrom the forwarded call.
 17. The system of claim 16 wherein the two-wayvoice path is provided after the user elects to override the forwardedcall.
 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the user elects to override theforwarded call by pressing a telephone key.
 19. The system of claim 12wherein the bridge and control component is incorporated with the remoteservice system.
 20. The system of claim 12 wherein the determination ofa redirecting number is accomplished independent of the serving switch.